


hidden art

by Sylanna



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoos, M/M, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-26 08:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10783455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylanna/pseuds/Sylanna
Summary: Alternate Universe in which Spock is enlistet in Starfleet but has a secret -  he's a famous tattoo artist. The only one who knows is Gaila, but what will happen when Jim Kirk decides he has to have a tattoo done by Spock?





	1. Chapter 1

 

Spock keeps a folder in which he stores his designs and pictures of the finished work. This map is hidden in his closet, under his vulcan robes in a wooden box which is secured with a padlock. The key to the lock is on a chain around his neck. Nobody should ever find out about his little secret.

Of course he keeps digital copies which are heavily encrypted, in case the Enterprise should ever crash.

 

Spock began to draw as a child. His mother had encouraged him to do so. She had told him that this talent could be useful should he wish to become a scientist or a engineer, both choices that would require quick sketches to store ideas. Her logic was sound, so Spock took a pencil and brought it to paper. Even his father told him one day that his drawings were remarkable.

His classmates (and his teachers for that matter) did not agree. Whenever he would make small drawings on his notes, they would tell him to stop. One day, in a break between classes, the group that had always detested his presence because of his human heritage even ripped his most favourite drawing. That was the day Spock had his first emotional break. He punched their leader in the nose. His father was not amused and encouraged his son to choose the vulcan way.

 

That did never work out and Spock ended up at Starfleet Academy.

 

He started his apprenticeship in a tattoo shop in his second semester at the academy. The resident artist taught him everything from the required hygiene to the act of tattooing itself. Spock practised his linework first on oranges and bananas before he was allowed to go on to human skin.

 

Soon he had his own chair in the little shop. His reputation grew through word of mouth and soon he had to juggle his coursework and the tattooing.

 

 ---

Jim had never thought actively about getting a tattoo. He admired the art on his partners' bodies a lot, of course, but none of them inspired him to get a tattoo himself. That changed when he got in bed with Gaila, a beautiful orion woman. When she undressed, she revealed a lot of ink under her skin. Basically her whole body (except for the parts which would be seen when wearing a starfleet uniform) was covered in black markings. The shapes seemed to flow naturally on her body. Most of the single motives were of orion origin. Jim could recognize a orion snow flower and some words written in Gaila's mother tongue. Everything was connected by dark shades which lay beneath the single motives.

“Like what you see?”, she teased him. “Got those from a very talented artist.”

 

\---

 

 

Spock cut his work as artist short one semester before graduating. He even thought about ending it completely, but his last client changed his mind. She was the only one who knew about his identity, all his other clients had to wear a blindfold. This was a security measure to safe his career in starfleet.

“Don't give it up, Spock. Your art means something.”

“Gaila. I chose to become a starfleet officer, not a tattoo artist. Now that I have to choose between those two, the choice is a easy one.”

“Very logical Spock, as always. But it can't be easy for you. And don't you dare to lie to me. I've seen you draw and tattoo. I've seen you smile doing it.”

“Vulcans do not smile, Gaila”, Spock told her.

She laughed. “What about half-vulcans?”

Spock did not answer he and just took the tattoo gun to her skin. Her body was now almost fully covered in his ink, but she had wished for one last small addition.

“I have an idea”, Gaila told him in the middle of his work. “Why don't you take down your contact information on your internet page and let me get you new clients.”

“You're offering to become the middle women in my illicit affairs?”

“If you put it like that: yes, always.”

Spock shook his head. “You know how picky I am since it is only logical to take up challenging jobs.”

“Believe me, I know how picky you are. All I am offering is helping you choosing the interesting offers. The time you would normally spent on looking at the clients you would then be able to use for academic purposes.”

“Your logic is sound.”

 

The deal with Gaila proved to be very clever. She did the work of looking through the clients and his reputation for being a reclusive genius grew. The theories of his identity also became more absurd as time passed.

“Some of the guys even tried to bribe me with sex for your name”, the orion told him one day. “I get a good lay and they get nothing, it's really funny. Additionally, I throw their request for a tattoo straight into the paper bin. Their fault.”

“Thank you, Gaila. Your work is highly appreciated.”

“It's fun and I like you, so no problem.”

 

\---

 

Somehow, after the night with Gaila, Jim couldn't shake the thoughts about the tattoos on her skin off. He even started thinking about tattoos for himself. When Bones caught him brooding, Jim refused to tell the doctor about what. He knew what his friend would tell him. Well, Bones would question his sanity.

 

But he couldn't stop. When Jim caught himself drawing some sketches on paper only minutes before his third attempt on the Kobayashi Maru simulation, he knew he had a problem.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When the academic hearing of one James T. Kirk ended in a rush for the starships, Spock changed two assignments. First was one of his students, Cadet Uhura, which would make a perfect addition to the Enterprise's crew, the second was Gaila. She was originally assigned to the USS Farragut, but Spock wanted her on the Enterprise.

After the disaster with Nero and the destruction of vulcan, Gaila approached him shortly after the other Spock had left.

“I guess I have to thank you”, she said. “If you hadn't changed my assignment, I would be dead.”

Spock only remained silent.

“I grieve with thee”, she then whispered.

“Thank you, Gaila.”

She only smiled sadly. “What will you do now?”

“I thought about going to new vulcan to help building the colony, but my I was encouraged to do otherwise.”

“I agree, the Enterprise is where you belong.”

 

Spock soon found out that he could keep up tattooing even aboard a starship. Of course, his clients were mostly officers of starfleet, but that did not stop them from getting a bit of ink. Of course, the possibility of getting caught grew, but Spock accepted the risk.

He had brought his tattoo gun with him when he was first assigned to the Enterprise. Gaila was the one who ordered the ink and Spock rationed as best he could. It was hard to get ink in space. He always had a assortment of different kinds, in case non-humans wanted a tattoo and were allergic to the standard ink for humans.

 

“You use your art to wind down”, Gaila remarked one day.

“I won't deny that.” Spock was uncomfortable to talk about his reasons. It was not vulcan to enjoy something so illogical, but he did. It was not only the creative process which challenged him. He used the skin on skin contact that happened sometimes even if he was wearing surgical gloves to practice his shielding tactics. Because of his human side, shielding was hard for him, but necessary (as had been proven by the choking incident).

 

Two months into the five-year mission, Gaila approached him in a flustered mood.

“Guess who has asked me about my tattoos?”

Spock looked her in the eyes. “If this person has asked about your tattoos specifically, it must have been a former paramour of yours. Am I right?”

“One night stand, but essentially correct. The Captain, Spock, wanted to know who gave me the ink.”

“And what did you tell him?” Spock had confidence in Gaila. She would not have told the captain about his work, would she?

“Just the standard phrase about the very talented artist.”

“And his answer?”

“Nothing, but I suspect that he will find out that you are aboard the Enterprise soon. He sounded interested in getting a tattoo himself.”

 

Spock expected the request by the captain within the week. He instructed Gaila to be very careful when communicating about the designs since Jim had already proven to be good with computers.

“I don't want to have my identity compromised.”

“So you won't tell him?”

Spock shook his head. “He is the Captain and he could use his knowledge as leverage against me if he wishes to do so.”

“In the last five months, I've seen you and Jim become good friends, playing chess every second day after alpha shift and eating together in the canteen. I highly doubt he would report you to the admiralty. Also, there is the other thing.”

“Other thing?”, Spock asked. He knew of course what Gaila wanted to say. She had dropped hints for the last two months.

She grinned. “He likes you. A lot.”

 

“He contacted me and asked me why I had not told him that I was the contact person to the artist. He also was not amused when I confirmed that the artist is part of the crew. By the way, his wish is very interesting, so I told him your conditions. You know, the thing with the blindfold you insist on.”

Spock only nodded. He knew the captain's request would be interesting enough for him. “And his ideas for a design?”

“He wants something to commemorate his first mission. The one where your home planet was lost.”

“I can do that, I am vulcan.”

“Okay. So, he commissioned a design with the vulcan script for _remember_ in it, preferably for his right shoulder blade.

 

 

Jim knew that all he could do was to wait. He had given Gaila the information on what he wanted and now had to trust her. Based on his research, it could take everything from one week to two months until the artist offered the first draft. It was surprising how many people aboard this ship had been tattooed by one artist. Even Sulu admitted to having some ink on his body. Nobody knew who the artist was, everybody told the same story about the blindfold.

 

When the draft arrived via mail only three days after the conversation with Gaila, Jim was delighted. He opened the image and gasped at the beauty of it. As requested, the vulcan script was the defining factor, but dark red and brown swirls in the background made it memorable.

_As per request, the script for remember; the colours in the background symbolize the atmosphere (red) and soil (brown) of vulcan-that-was._

_Is this to your liking, or should alterations be made?_

The message was sent from Gaila's communicator, so there was no way of tracking it back to the artist.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next (and last chapter) will be uploaded on May, 06


	3. Chapter 3

 

“He likes your design and wants it the way you drew it.”

Spock was surprised. The draft was the most simple design he could do. He had thought about something more outstanding, but decided against it. While Jim often acted a bit too fast and seemed to be happy all the time, Spock got to know another side of his captain. Calm and interesting.

“Is he sure?”

Gaila smiled at him. “When it concerns you, he is sure.”

“Illogical. He doesn't know it's me.”

“What do you think why he chose a vulcan script then?”

“Out of his wish to commemorate his first mission, I would think that would have a certain appeal to him.”

Gaila just shook her head. “If you insist. When will you be ready to work on him?”

Spock quickly thought about his shifts. “In three days, in the evening, it should be possible. Will you make the necessary arrangements, please?”

“Of course, Spock. Anything extraordinary?”

Spock shook his head. “No. Nothing. He's just another client. You should get any other thoughts out of your mind.”

 

The storage room Spock generally used was in a vacated part of the ship. Only the officers of engineering ever came there because of the stare parts there. On a calm day, nobody had a reason to go there. Smuggling a blindfolded person there was also easy, as easy as disabling the cameras was.

Gaila brought Jim in right on time. Spock had already laid out the supplies, the disinfectant, the ink and the tattoo gun.

“Where am I?”, asked the captain as soon as he entered the room.

“Still on the ship, I can assure you of that.”

“Thanks Gaila, but I asked the third person in the room.”

Spock only nodded to her. She understood it as a sign to take up her usual talk.

“The artist won't talk to you. I already told you that, I'm the only voice that'll be talking to you. So, there is a chair two steps ahead of you. Sit down there, with your back to me.”

 

 

The whole ordeal seemed strange to Jim. He never met the artist when waiting for the draft. From his researches about the art of tattoing he knew that most artists talked rather long with their clients about their wishes and often multiple drafts were made. This person however had a complete different modus operandi. No contact, not even on sight (ignoring the fact that the person in question was part of the crew). He had tracked Gaila for the past two days, but she never had contact with anyone suspicious. She had only informed him about the rules the artist had.

 

He sat down as requested.

 

 

 

Was it emotional compromise? Enjoying the process of tattooing someone. Drawing only a little blood, inflicting pain to create something.

Spock came to the conclusion that the answer was _maybe_.

 

The captain's body was very well formed. Spock could tell that even as an objective observer. He had of course already seen his fair share of his captain's back and front, since most hostile aliens tended to rip his shirt into strips. At these time, Spock had of course been unable to appreciate the view because it always came with a lot of blood and sometimes even the loss of life.

 

“Is everything fine, Captain?”, Gaila asked. Spock had given her the permission to talk with Jim throughout the process to distract him.

“Other than being blindfolded and unable to see anything, yes.”

“I only inquired if you are in pain.”

Jim sighed. “It's not exactly pleasant, having a needle draw blood on your skin, but it's worth it.”

“I understand. Will you tell me why you choose this design?”

The captain did not answer immediately. “I would tell you, Gaila, but what if this artist here is a gossip?”

“I assure you, he keeps everything very confidential.”

“Gaila, do you hear yourself? You talk like Spock sometimes.”

Spock breathed harshly in. He understood that this could indicate that his anonymity was in danger. He did however underestimate Gaila. She just opened her mouth and said: “I'm currently working on a science project with the Commander which involves a lot of communication. So it's possible I've been influenced by him. So, back to the design. Why vulcan?”

Spock tensed and shot Gaila a warning glance. He knew of course why she insisted on her question. She wanted to proof that the captain felt something for Spock.

“I'm learning the language, so that I will be able to communicate better with Spock. Uhura is teaching me, but she says I still butcher the pronunciation.”

Gaila just shot an amused glance back.

“Why haven't you asked Spock? He's a native speaker after all.”

Jim squirmed. Spock laid a hand flat at his back to calm him down.

“Can't tell you.”

 

“He wants to surprise you”, Gaila told Spock after the session. “He adores you.”

“Well, it's not a surprise anymore”, he answered to that. “And I doubt he will react positive when he finds out about my art.”

“He will love that.”

Spock did not comment on her illogical statement and kept on cleaning his tattoo gun. “Did he make any trouble when you brought him back to his quarters?”

“He did not. I just told him how he has to care for his skin until he's healed. Oh, and he has asked, if you would be interested in doing another work for him. I told him that you would.”

“How often do I have to tell you to keep out of my decisions?”

“At least one more time.”

 

 

Jim looked over his back into the mirror. The tattoo was now almost fully healed. It was perfect.

What Jim hadn't told Gaila was his reason why he chose this design. The destruction of vulcan was the first mission he had been on, of course, but the important factor was Spock. It had been the mission in which he and the Commander had become friends.

His interest in the vulcan language had risen when his friendship with Spock became more than just that.

Asking Uhura for help had been the logical next step. He wanted to surprise Spock one day.

 

The need for the tattoo however had developed over time. Then one day he had woken up with the basic idea and on the same day he had started searching for the artist. It was a surprise to learn that this person was aboard the Enterprise.

More information was nowhere to find, nobody even knew the gender of the artist. Jim had the suspicion the person was male. The silence and the touch had been enough to tell him that.

 

 

Spock did not know what to do with the new knowledge. He now saw that Gaila had been right all along. Jim liked him a bit more than just as friend. Why else would he try to learn the most complicated (and almost dead) language in the known universe?

 

So the next evening, Spock decided that it was time for him to tell Jim.

 

“Checkmate, Spock.”

Spock took his king and laid it down.

Jim sighed. “What's on your mind, Spock? You've been distracted all along.”

“I'm just wondering if your back is fully healed by now.”

“My back...? Spock, how did you know? Are you...?” Jim stared at Spock until he bowed his head down and looked down at the table. Then he nodded.

Jim breathed in.

“I understand if you are uncomfortable with this and want me off the ship. I just came to the conclusion that I should be open with you, Jim.”

“Are you out of your mind? Look at me at least before you just assume.”

Spock did as his captain commanded and saw adoration in the other man's eyes, so he gave in to the sudden desire and offered his two fingers. Jim blushed and then kissed Spock the vulcan way.

 

 

Piece by piece, Jim's skin became covered in Spock's art.

 

Three months later, when Jim was still recovering from Krall's attack, Spock showed Jim the box (which had survived the crash intact) in which he kept his designs hidden.

Jim proposed to him the next day.

 

The day they bonded on New Vulcan, Spock added his own name into the mix of small mementos and scripts that adorned Jim's skin.

 

It also was the day on which Spock and Jim married the human way, the vulcan tattooed his husband's name around his own left wrist as substitute for the ring.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tags will be added as the story progresses
> 
> As always, I do not own any of the characters/names/places, I make no money with this.
> 
> Also, english is not my first language, so feel free to point out any mistakes I made.


End file.
